Proposal: Run
by VioletDragonian
Summary: 2B and 9S are caught in a sudden rainstorm and are forced to seek shelter. But when you're confined in a small space with your partner and two snarky Tactile Support Units, things get weird. And then your partner runs off to play in puddles. Someone should probably get these children an adult.


**A/N:**

 **Thanks to Kiloueka on ao3 for suggesting the prompt of getting caught in the rain and splashing in puddles!**

* * *

It came down lightly, at first. A mere pitter patter on the ground, a few sprinkles of water on their shoulders. Small droplets that vanished into the blackness of their uniforms, so faint that they couldn't even feel the moisture before the thick fabric stole it away. The clouds above gave no indication of what was to come, the soft fluffy gray only inviting and vaguely gloomy. It was peaceful, faintly chill and cozy in a way, as if the thick blanket of cloud cover were keeping them safe from everything above.

Slow, deep breaths rewarded them with the refreshing taste of clean moisture in the air, with a faint and surprisingly alluring scent of pure earth. 9S couldn't help but stop in his tracks, breathing deeply over and over, finding himself more than a little fond of the way the atmosphere felt. 2B paused for a moment as well, humoring him and joining in, before deciding enough was enough and tugging him along to continue their mission. He didn't complain, choosing to stay silent about her hand gripping his just in case she'd let go if it were pointed out.

Their feet pattered in sync on the moist ground as they ran, accompanied by the sound of the droplets that slowly increased in number as the full storm rolled in.

9S could feel it on his face, now. The wet streaks left by the crying sky and the moisture clinging to his eyelashes behind his mask, and the way his hair at first fluffed up in slight curls before being stamped back down as the fibers were soaked through. Though 2B made no complaints, he knew she wasn't doing much better, the feathers on her sleeves sticking to her gloves and her hair seeming to get longer as it was pulled down by the weight of the water.

Before they knew it, the rain had turned from a friendly sprinkle into an outright downpour, droplets pounding off the concrete hard enough to turn to mist and the distance fading away into a wet fog. When he realized he could feel his drenched coat clinging to his back in an uncomfortably cloying way, he shivered, and 2B turned her head ever so slightly.

"We should find shelter. It's bad for our bodies to be in this weather for too long."

9S knew that logic was fake. They were built to withstand anything and everything with little to no special attention or maintenance, but he didn't argue. It wasn't often she was the one to show concern for their limits.

Her grip on his hand tightened as she tugged him forward, seemingly to somewhere safe from the torrential rain. He slowly lost most visibility in the dense curtains of water, but she ran forward at the same speed and confidence as always, leaving him to trust in her as he blindly followed.

Finally they came to a stop, and 9S opened his eyes when he felt the pressure of the rain cease, not even realizing he'd closed them during their mad dash for shelter. As it turned out, 2B had brought them safely to a nice half collapsed building, its walls sunk far enough down that the windows were mostly all blocked and no wind could find its way in. The inside was dry, the slope of the earth causing the rain to pool elsewhere.

"Wow 2B, you found this through all that rain? I couldn't see a thing." He looked around, impressed, before untying his drenched blindfold and handing it to his pod.

"I saw it earlier." She said simply, leaving unsaid the fact that she'd purposely remembered it for this exact reason.

"Good foresight, keeping it in mind like that." He praised again, this time handing his bag to the pod as well, treating the poor thing like a drying line. It stayed silent, holding 9S's drenched gear without complaint. "Do you think you should let your pod dry your dress, 2B?"

2B only turned, fixing him with such a sharp piercing stare that he could feel it even through her mask. "Is it just me, or do you want me to undress every time we're together?"

9S blinked. Once, twice, and proceeded to turn bright red, realizing what she said was true and how his words had sounded. He tripped over his speech in an instant, trying to explain himself and only managing to make it worse as he stuttered. "I-I, uh.. Didn't mean- not like that!"

Amusement pulled at 2B's lips as she watched him flail. As he continued stuttering, tripping over more failed sentences and his face turning ever brighter, she just pulled off her own mask and threw it at wet fabric hit his face with the distinct slap of, well, wet fabric, and clung to his face exactly like his own blindfold would. He decided to cut his losses and shut up then, earning a barely stifled chuckle from 2B when she noticed his defeat.

While 9S continued standing still, frozen like a broken cat with the wet mask on his face, his pod casually reached over and removed it.

"I know what you meant, 9S, and your concern is appreciated." 2B let up her teasing when the pod released him from being paused. "But Command will get suspicious if we take too long to continue our mission. You wouldn't want them to send someone to find us hiding out and undressed together, would you?"

Her own pod's voice crackled in the air. "Observation: Unit 2B has become self aware."

She swatted it away with a grimace, the pod smoothly moving away from her hand before she could hit it.

Shaking off his embarrassment, 9S timidly agreed. "You're right. Though it would be a lot more comfortable to dry off properly. Why does Command have to be so…" He trailed off, looking out into the rain.

"Rude?" 2B tried.

"No, more like-"

Pod 042 butted in again at that moment, its voice crackling into life.

"Proposal: the words units 2B and 9S are looking for are 'bullheaded hardasses'"

The two androids looked at each other like a set of deer in headlights, both feeling their eyes go wide at what 2B's pod just said, both slowly turning to look at 042.

"9S, did you-"

"I haven't touched him. Did you..?"

"I've done nothing."

This time it was Pod 153's turn to speak up, despite her current job title as clothesline. "Proposal: Pod 042 listened too closely the last time units 2B and 9S cooperated with resistance unit known as 'Jackass'."

"I'm gonna kill her."

"Proposal-" 2B successfully shoved 042 away this time, pressing her hand against its metal hull and holding it away at arm's length, much to the angry whirring of its strained fans.

"Enough out of you."

Outside, the rain had finally slowed, the torrential downpour letting up as the thick clouds broke apart and showered the world in refreshing streams of sunlight. Water still dripped from roofs and plants, droplets glistening in the sun as they fell into and disturbed deep puddles gathered in the concrete. 9S noticed this first, his face filling with wonder as he stepped out and looked around, leaving an arguing 2B and 042 in the shelter.

He watched the earth's life slowly come out of hiding. Birds bursting from trees and flying away while plants looked as if they were visibly perking up, and further away in the ruins, a moose wandered out from under another building and shook excess water from its body. It was beautiful, the way everything slowly came back, like a restarted computer dutifully starting each of its processes in turn.

Trailing his gaze down, his eyes caught the puddles glistening in the sun, the water clear and alluring in its mirror reflectivity. He could see the last of the fluffy clouds floating away in its surface, the water rippling as a warm breeze carried them away. Looking up and down the cracked pavement, 9S could see the entire length of the road was dotted with these puddles, of varying sizes. An idea crossed his mind.

"Hey, 2B!" He turned around, making 2B freeze in her current position of grabbing her pod with threatening hands. Choosing to ignore everything he was seeing right now, he threw his arms out wide. "Watch this!"

2B gave up on abusing her pod, watching instead as 9S jumped backward and landed square in the middle of a large puddle, his boots causing a violent splash to fly up and around him in every direction. He raised his arms higher, as if in a 'ta-da!' gesture.

She just blinked at him, unimpressed.

"It's fun, see?" He jumped straight up now, landing back in the same puddle and creating a similar splash. When 2B's face continued to be unmoved, 9S blushed faintly pink, but stuck with his shenanigans and proceeded to hop around in a few more puddles, trying desperately to win her over.

He didn't notice when she walked out of the building, slowly approaching him and curiously watching his play. What he did notice was when she casually stuck one leg out, sweeping it toward him and splashing the entire contents of one puddle right onto his half-dried form.

He may or may not have made an incredibly unmanly squeal, running away from her watery assault.

Not bothering to chase after him, 2B tapped her boot in the puddle he'd vacated, watching the water gently splish away. Then she tapped harder, and watched the water splash a little further.

Okay, maybe she could understand how he found this fun.

While she was distracted with her exploration of the puddle, 9S snuck back over. He found a nice deep one right next to 2B, and waved to the pods watching them, silently asking the little companions to come help him. They did as asked, out of loyalty and probably spite from earlier, respectively, and worked together to take each of 9S's hands and lift him a decent way off the ground. Once his feet were dangling at the height where normally his head would be, maybe a little higher, they dropped him right into the puddle.

They ended up creating an impressively huge splash, managing to douse 2B completely before she could react and escape. She tensed, cringing as she was soaked all over again, and she turned to fix 9S with a deadly stare.

"Proposal: Run."

And that was exactly what 9S did, running away with a girlish squeal while 2B chased him like death on heels. The pods were left to watch the two androids run back and forth in front of them, and whether they were entertained or judgemental of the childish scene before them, nobody could really tell.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I realized I was neglecting the pods. It had to be fixed.**

 **I regret nothing**


End file.
